CHAOS SPACE MARINES versus Emperor's Children

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Colin
Mission: Cleanse
1st turn: ?
Points: 1000
Date: 15/04/2003

Chaos Space Marines (lone pilgrim)

• Daemon prince Bellicus - Mark of Chaos Undivided, Daemonic Stature, Daemonic Armour, Daemonic Aura, Daemonic Resilience, Dreadaxe, Close Combat Weapon
  
• Squad Surculus - 5 Possessed, Mark of Chaos Undivided, Daemonic Talons
• Squad Infractis – 7 Chaos Marines, Infiltrate, Mark of Chaos Undivided, Bolt pistols and Close combat weapons, 2 x Plasma Pistols, Aspiring Champion with Powerfist
• Squad Profuge - 7 Chaos Marines, Infiltrate, Mark of Chaos Undivided, Bolt guns, 2 x Plasma guns
• Squad Imber - 5 Havocs,Infiltrate, Mark of Chaos Undivided, bolt guns, 3 x Heavy Bolt guns
• Torius - Predator, Twin-linked Lascannons, Heavy Bolt gun Sponsons
• Atrocitor - Dreadnought, Twin-linked Lascannons

Emperor's Children

• Lord with daemon weapon in rhino with assault squad and Asp Champ with powerfist
  
• Dread
  
• Havocs
  
• Shooty squad
  
• 2 units daemonettes

Terrain and Deployment
Playing on the new ice world board with light/moderate cover. Our heavy support set up opposite each other and began to duke it out.

The game
I targeted both the rhino and the enemy dread; by the end of my second turn (after 5 twin-linked Lascannon shots, 2 plasma pistols and a round of combat with my powerfist) I had only immobilised the rhino.

Meanwhile my firebase had taken a hammering. My Havocs were lost to a string of bad dice rolls (3 failed saves out of 4 dice rolls), the dread was immobilised then destroyed, and the Emperors Children were looming.

It was down to my possessed and Daemon Prince to save the day. The possessed were charged by the Lord et al and were cut down to a man before they could strike back. The Daemon prince then waded in, missed all of his attacks and was promptly spannered!

To add insult to injury the daemonettes appeared on target and rolled six sixes against squad Profuge and then had to roll the rest of their attacks. By the end of the fourth turn I was down to the predator, and unsurprisingly I conceded.

Result: Lose

Commendations

• None

Turning point
Failing to effectively stop the Rhino.

Learning points
Colin argued it was all down to good luck on his part.

• The two firebases were evenly matched; it could have gone either way. He got the damage in early on and that meant I couldn’t do as much damage back, that meant he could do more damage, etc, etc.
• The Daemon Prince and possessed were wiped out by a string of good rolls for my opponent and a string of bad rolls for myself. Ah well, my good fortune with these units had to end sometime.
• Slaaneshi armies are awesome against other marine armies due to their initiative special rules.

CHAOS SPACE MARINES and Emperor's Children versus Ultramarines and Space Wolves

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Allies: Wayne and Chris, both using Emperor's Children
Opponents: Kevin and Morris using Ultramarines and Space Wolves
Mission: Take and Hold (modified)
1st turn: Chaos Space Marines and Emperor's Children
Points: 3000
Date: 01/04/2003

Chaos Space Marines (lone pilgrim)

• Daemon prince Lamprey - Mark of Chaos Undivided, Daemonic Stature, Daemonic Armour, Daemonic Aura, Daemonic Spawn, Dreadaxe
• Squad Hotep – 9 Chaos Space Marines, Mark of Tzeentch, Aspiring Champion, Bolt pistol and close combat weapon, Bolt of Change, Minor Psychic Power, Talisman of Tzeentch
• Squad Infractis – 7 Chaos Marines, Infiltrate, Mark of Chaos Undivided, Bolt pistols and Close combat weapons, 2 x Plasma Pistols, Aspiring Champion with Powerfist
• Squad Profuge - 7 Chaos Marines, Infiltrate, Mark of Chaos Undivided, Bolt guns, 2 x Plasma guns
• Torius - Predator, Twin-linked Lascannons, Heavy Bolt gun Sponsons
• Atrocitor - Dreadnought, Twin-linked Lascannons

Emperor's Children

• Lord with flight and lightning claws
• Lieutenant with strength and power weapon
• Possessed with flight
  
• Dread with plasma
  
• 2 x Daemonettes
  
• 2x Havocs with blastmasters
• 5 x regular marine squads, 3 x rhino, 1 with warp amp

Space Wolves

• Logan Grimnar with 5 Terminators in a Land Raider Crusader
  
• Predator exterminator?
  
• Dread with twin Heavy Bolters
  
• Dread with twin Las cannons
  
• Grey hunters on foot
  
• Blood claws in rhino

Ultramarines

• Chaplain with 8 Marines in rhino
  
• Predator annihilator
  
• Scouts with sniper rifles
  
• Scouts with bolt pistols and ccw
  
• 5 assault marines
  
• Land speeder with multi-melta
  
• 5 terminators
  
• 8 man tactical squad

Terrain and deployment
The best and most enjoyable game I have played at Games Workshop for ages. We just set up twelve inches onto the board and went at it. I moved into the centre with the intention of soaking up fire with my Thousand sons and the daemon prince. I had to secure the objective. Chris was on our left and had to attempt a flanking manoeuvre with his two rhinos (against Kevin). Wayne was on our right and had the tough job of holding up Morris’ Space Wolves (and Kevin's HQ in a rhino).

The game
Wayne got stuck right in and admirably held up the entire Space Wolves force, albeit at the cost of his whole army (bar 3 models). Notable moments included his daemonettes immobilising the Land Raider with their rending claws, his possessed and Lord taking on Kevin's HQ in the assault and his dread taking on the Wolves dread in close combat, both blowing up and taking out numerous bystanders in an explosion.

Chris barrelled up the flank unharmed, most of Kevin's force moving up to the objective in the centre. By the time the flank attack was noticed (by a horrified Morris!) it was too late and the scout squads and predator were destroyed in short order. On the final turn the lieutenant and squad took on Kevin's Marines in combat and won through, leaving them in the centre of the enemy deployment zone. Chris only took maybe five casualties in the whole game!

My daemon Prince stood on a hill in our deployment zone to attract enemy fire and it worked, leaving most of our forces unharmed in the early turns. The prince also passed all of his own saving throws. Meanwhile the rest of my force advanced into the centre and the objective, taking down the land speeder and the assault squad in a hail of fire. The dreadnought had to be man of the match as it took on the bloodclaws and terminators in combat, won and routed both units! It then shot the power fist off a dread and charged back in. Finally the Thousand Sons took the objective and were holding off an assault by two scouts on the last turn before time ran out (we played four turns).

I thought it was pretty clear we were going to win with Chris one turn away from the objective with almost 1000pts of Emperors Children, my daemon prince within 6” along with squads Profuge and Infractis and the remnants of squad Hotep. For the enemy, they had the dread without powerfist in contact with squad Infractis (with a powerfist), two scouts fighting three members of squad Hotep, and Logan Grimnar two turns away. Kevin's HQ had also remounted their rhino but its side armour was presented to Wayne's three remaining Havoc squad members.

In the end we called it a draw as the game had been so much fun.

Result: Draw

Commendations

• Dreadnought

Turning point
Chris' flank attack.

Learning points

• This was a fantastic game, full of spectacle, awesome fights and cunning plans.
• Thousand sons can soak up an awesome amount of fire. Everyone who saw them in action vowed to get a squad. And they took the objective.
• By concentrating on the mission objective we got the upper hand. We immobilised the Land Raider out on our right flank and held up Kevin’s Rhino in an assault. At best they would have gotten to the objective on turn six, if at all.
  

CHAOS SPACE MARINES versus Chaos Space Marines

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Wayne
Mission: Patrol
1st turn: Unknown
Points: 1000
Date: 25/03/2003

Chaos Space Marines (lone pilgrim)

• Daemon prince Lamprey - Mark of Chaos Undivided, Daemonic Stature, Daemonic Armour, Daemonic Aura, Daemonic Spawn, Dreadaxe
• SquadSurculus - 5 Possessed, Mark of Chaos Undivided, Daemonic Talons
• Squad Infractis – 7 Chaos Marines, Infiltrate, Mark of Chaos Undivided, Bolt pistols and Close combat weapons, 2 x Plasma Pistols, Aspiring Champion with Powerfist
• Squad Profuge - 7 Chaos Marines, Infiltrate, Mark of Chaos Undivided, Bolt guns, 2 x Plasma guns
• Squad Imber - 5 Havocs,Infiltrate, Mark of Chaos Undivided, bolt guns, 3 x Heavy Bolt guns
• Torius - Predator, Twin-linked Lascannons, Heavy Bolt gun Sponsons
• Atrocitor - Dreadnought, Twin-linked Lascannons

Chaos Space Marines

• Possessed squad with flight
• Tooled up Lord with flight and two lightning claws
  
• Dread with plasma cannon
  
• Havocs
  
• 2x marine squads

The game
Couldn’t be more different from last opponent - going from a horde army to an elite army.

Suspicions started when Wayne moved a building into his deployment zone for some extra cover. Then he moved out of it without rolling difficult terrain, and targeted a unit of mine in terrain claiming they didn’t get a save. Finally he tried to claim a save for his men when I returned fire. Perhaps this was just inexperience though as he also got mixed up with the daemon summoning rules (in his favour of course!).

Anyway I won the battle when I hosed down his possessed with heavy bolter fire from the Havocs and Predator. I dithered with the Daemon Prince and he ended up doing nothing for the whole game, but the possessed and close combat squad did well again.

Result: Win

Learning points

• I MUST check the rules on difficult terrain with my opponent before the game.
• Be more positive with Daemon Prince otherwise he is wasted.
• I roll well for possessed in every game. Long may it continue!
• This is a VERY tight army list. I have not lost with it yet, even though I am new to Chaos. Is it bordering on the cheesy? I will change it for next week and find out.

CHAOS SPACE MARINES versus Feral Orks

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Steve
Mission: Recon
1st turn: Unknown
Points: 1000
Date: 25/03/2003

Chaos Space Marines

• Daemon prince Lamprey - Mark of Chaos Undivided, Daemonic Stature, Daemonic Armour, Daemonic Aura, Daemonic Spawn, Dreadaxe
• SquadSurculus - 5 Possessed, Mark of Chaos Undivided, Daemonic Talons
• Squad Infractis – 7 Chaos Marines, Infiltrate, Mark of Chaos Undivided, Bolt pistols and Close combat weapons, 2 x Plasma Pistols, Aspiring Champion with Powerfist
• Squad Profuge - 7 Chaos Marines, Infiltrate, Mark of Chaos Undivided, Bolt guns, 2 x Plasma guns
• Squad Imber - 5 Havocs,Infiltrate, Mark of Chaos Undivided, bolt guns, 3 x Heavy Bolt guns
• Torius - Predator, Twin-linked Lascannons, Heavy Bolt gun Sponsons
• Atrocitor - Dreadnought, Twin-linked Lascannons

Feral Orks

• HQ unit on Boars
• 5 large units of Orks
  
• Grots

Terrain and deployment
A very scary looking army which flooded his entire deployment area. Yikes.

I refused the right flank, with the predator and Havocs covering, while the rest of my army marched up the left into assault.

The game
I carefully conducted the fighting with most of my units sticking tight to the left flank so as not to allow his HQ and other squads to redeploy quickly.

A decisive victory.

Result: Win

Learning points

• Heavy Bolters are awesome. I have a new-found respect for these guns after they decimated the Ork horde.
• I controlled the assault phase very well, unusually for me, and kept calm resulting in a straightforward win.
• I have a very hard, tight army that can do most things well.

CHAOS SPACE MARINES versus Chaos Space Marines

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Take and Hold
1st turn: Chaos Space Marines (lone pilgrim)
Points: 1000
Date: 18/03/2003

Chaos Space Marines (lone pilgrim)

• Daemon prince Lamprey - Mark of Chaos Undivided, Daemonic Stature, Daemonic Armour, Daemonic Aura, Daemonic Spawn, Dreadaxe
• SquadSurculus - 5 Possessed, Mark of Chaos Undivided, Daemonic Talons
• Squad Infractis – 7 Chaos Marines, Infiltrate, Mark of Chaos Undivided, Bolt pistols and Close combat weapons, 2 x Plasma Pistols, Aspiring Champion with Powerfist
• Squad Profuge - 7 Chaos Marines, Infiltrate, Mark of Chaos Undivided, Bolt guns, 2 x Plasma guns
• Squad Imber - 5 Havocs,Infiltrate, Mark of Chaos Undivided, bolt guns, 3 x Heavy Bolt guns
• Torius - Predator, Twin-linked Lascannons, Heavy Bolt gun Sponsons
• Atrocitor - Dreadnought, Twin-linked Lascannons
  

Terrain and deployment
Gary was holding the objective right in the centre of the new ice wastes table. Since his whole army was either troops or heavy support he could set them up on the objective (barring the Lord who had to come on in reserve). My infiltrating units could set up on the table which helped in the first shooting phase, as the rest of my army came on in the first turn. The Predator, Daemon Prince and Possessed took my right flank, the Dreadnought, Havocs and shooty marine squad took the centre and the assault marine squad took my left.

The game
I took out half of the Khorne unit on foot and one of the rhinos in the first turn, while I lost four havocs in return. On the second turn I killed two more berzerkers, a single havoc and the Dreadnought. My assaulty squad was charged by the remnants of the Khorne squad and took three casualties but killed both of the enemy then swept 12” right into the enemy Havocs.

On the right my Possessed were assaulted by the Khorne squad in the Rhino and killed five for only one casualty. In my next turn the survivors were slaughtered by the Daemon Prince who consolidated into cover while the Possessed swept toward the Havocs. The second enemy Rhino was destroyed and the sweeping Marines got caught in a stalemate with the Havocs (now the only squad on the objective).

The enemy Lord turned up from reserve this turn. The Khorne squad from the second rhino steamed into the combat on the objective and killed two models but the survivors refused to rout. My armed squad ran forward to take the objective on the fourth turn, helped by the Dreadnought rolling for frenzy and running 12 inches! The Possessed and the Dread slammed into the messy combat in the centre of the board, killing all but one of the enemy who promptly routed.

The only enemy model left was the Lord with Berzerker glaive who was out of charge range but was assaulted by the frenzied dreadnought (another 1) and the Possessed who had swept. The Possessed took him down after suffering two further casualties.

Result: Win

Commendations

• Chaos Space Marines (lone pilgrim) The Possessed rocked! I seemed to roll numerous sixes and it is sweet not to have to worry about to wound rolls or armour saves. They even finished off a tooled up Lord. Definitely men of the match.

Turning point
The first 12" sweep to tie up the Havocs.

Learning points

• Infiltrate worked superbly here as it allowed me to set up the assault squad, shooting squad and Havocs ON the table at the start of the game. Normally they would have had to waste a turn moving onto the table before they shot.
• It helps to have good luck and the enemy to have bad. Out of four las-cannon shots I destroyed three vehicles and my enemy seemed to fail every armour save going.
• Force seemed well balanced with mobility in the Dreadnought, Predator and the sweeping assault elements. Decent shooting options with the dread, predator, Havocs and shooty marines.
• Don’t bunch havocs together, especially when the enemy has a plasma cannon.